5 Things I Love About Staying at Home

I have seen a lot of people posting about how hard it is to stay home, especially those who aren't normally home every day, all day. I guess being a homeschool mom makes it easier for me, since I'm used to being home every day. I do miss our outings, like library trips, park trips, shopping, church, TeamKID, and visiting friends and family, but it has been nice to have so much time at home. Here are five things I'm loving about being "stuck" at home.

1.) We are cooking a lot more! We don't usually eat out as a family because with 7 of us eating, it can get expensive. We are used to running through the Sonic drive-through after grocery shopping, library trips, or anytime we "go to town" (we live about ten miles from town), even if just for a drink or an order of mozzarella sticks. We have only eaten in town once this month, and that was because the kids needed a change of pace! Mikaela, my 17 year old, and Mercie, my 12 year old, have also been cooking. We browned some sausage that we had made this winter from some hogs my husband killed and added it to black-eyed peas for lunch yesterday. Then we ate pork tenderloin (from the same hogs) with rice, green beans, and French bread for supper. We are eating much healthier and it's really nice for the girls to get some more practice in the kitchen.

2.) We are playing more games! It's still hard to play games with Zeke around because he wants to, um, explore everything (that means eat the game pieces and destroy the game boards). However, we can sit outside on the porch while Zeke is playing and play Uno. We also played Yahtzee last night, and that was Titus and Silas's first time playing. The kids have been playing lots of Monopoly and Conspiracy Theory (a really fun game my mom got me for Christmas a few years ago!). I really want to order Rummikub with the large tiles, because it's a blast to play.

3.) We have been spending a lot of time outdoors! We normally do this anyway, but it's nice to be home and spend time outdoors. Even Eli, my 14 year old, has had a ton of fun playing with his younger brothers and sister. They've been jumping on the trampoline, playing football, and hide and seek. Zeke has been splashing in mud puddles and exploring the yard. Mikaela and I have done some aerobics in the yard (thank goodness for no neighbors!). We even did some school on the porch yesterday morning because it was nice and cool.

4.) We are home in the evenings! That may seem like a weird one, but this time of year is usually the busiest time for us because of baseball and softball. All five of my older kids play. Mikaela and Eli play for the school, and Mercie, Silas, and Titus play in the rec league. This means we are gone Monday through Friday nights for games and Saturdays for practice. It is always a challenge to juggle so many games and teams and practices, and we are usually gone from 4 in the evening until 9 or even 10 at night. It's an exhausting time of year, for sure, but we are a baseball and softball loving family! Being home every evening is so nice, though! We don't have to rush to be anywhere, Zeke can go to bed at a good time, we can relax and watch TV at night, and we aren't nearly as tired as we would be!

5.) We are connecting so much more! Having so much time together has been wonderful for our relationships. I have much more time to talk to the kids and hang out with them. Sometimes we get on each other's nerves being around each other so much, but for the most part we have enjoyed the time together. Mikaela and Eli wouldn't get home from school and practice until after 5 or 6, and if they had away games maybe not until 11 or 12. It is a blessing to have so much time with my teens! I feel like this is a great opportunity to work on some character issues and nurture sibling relationships, as well.

There are many more good things about being home more, but I'm going to leave it at that! What is your favorite thing about staying home now?

The Easter Storybook

Disclaimer: I received a FREE copy of this product through the HOMESCHOOL REVIEW CREW in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way.

 

I love children's Bibles and storybooks and have quite the collection of them! When I was offered the opportunity to review The Easter Storybook by Laura Richie, I jumped at the chance! The Easter Storybook from David C Cook  is a collection of forty Bible stories about Jesus, from his time as a boy in the Temple to His ascension to Heaven after His resurrection.

I read this storybook to and with my younger children over the last few weeks. It has quickly and easily become one of my favorite children's Bible storybooks ever!

I love the way Laura Richie writes the stories. She really makes them come alive! She does not simplify the stories at all, but includes commentary and insights that most children's Bibles leave out. For example, in the story about Jesus entering Jerusalem on a donkey, she writes, "He didn't ride on a strong horse like a warrior king. No, not Jesus. Instead, he rode on a small donkey like the true, humble King promised long ago by the prophets."

And in the story of Jesus talking with Nicodemus, she writes, "Jesus said people needed new life. It wasn't enough to be clean on the outside - they needed new hearts that could love and be loved. New life came from believing Jesus. God's Spirit comes to be with those who believe, giving them new life."

She also teaches about different culture and religious backgrounds that really help in understanding the stories. In the story, "Living Water", she writes, "Jesus and His disciples were walking through where the Samaritans lived - people who were not friends with the Jews. Most Jews walked around Samaria, but not Jesus." Later in the story, she adds a sentence about how the Samaritan woman mentioned something Jews and Samaritans disagreed about.

In the story about Jesus clearing the Temple, she writes, "Jewish men needed to offer animals and coins to the priests in the Temple. Money-changers traded with people to help them get the animals and coins they needed. But sometimes the money-changers were greedy and dishonest, taking more than they should and keeping the extras for themselves."

I also love the illustrations in this storybook! They are very detailed and aesthetically pleasing. My seven year old loved looking at the pictures. The illustrations almost tell the story on their own! And she includes a question or two under the story to ask your children to keep them thinking. In the story "Lord of the Sabbath", she asks, "Why did Jesus heal people on the Sabbath?" This helps your child (and you!) to think a little harder about the story and opens the door for more dialogue and conversations with your child.

The Easter Storybook (priced at less than $14 on Amazon right now) is the perfect prelude to Resurrection Day. There are 40 stories which would be perfect to read aloud during family devotions or before bedtime. The stories are geared toward children ages 4-8, but my older children also enjoyed listening to the stories and taking turns reading them aloud. I promise that you and your older children will learn something new from this storybook!

I noticed Laura Richie also has The Advent Storybook which I will keep on my Christmas wish list!

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Homeschool Highlights: 3/23/20 - 3/27/20

This week was a hard week. We had a family friend pass away. The lady that let us borrow her bag of Peru souvenirs fell off of a ladder this week and passed away. She was such a wonderful lady, so funny and sweet and full of kindness and joy. She will be greatly missed. And we can't even have a funeral right now. They are going to bury her and then have a service in April - hopefully everything will be on the way back to normal by then.

Rod is still in Texas working. He should be home in 2 - 3 weeks. They are considered necessary workers (gas workers) and have to have permits to be out! We miss him, especially in light of everything that is going on.

Also, from now on Homeschool Highlights will link up before noon. It's hard for me to get it linked up early in the morning!

In geography this week, we traveled to Nigeria. We completed our country fact sheet, mapping sheet, flag sheet, and Children Just Like Me worksheet.

We made Nigerian drums out of tin cans and paper bags.

We did a quicksand experiment using cornstarch. We used army men to show how quickly you can sink in the quicksand if you're standing up and if you fight it. If you lay flat, you don't sink as quickly. The kids loved the way this felt!

When they put some in their hand and rolled it into a ball, it became hard. They held out their hands and it turned to liquid! Then they squeezed again and it became hard again. They thought this was so neat.

We only have 7 countries left to "visit" this year. We have really had fun with Expedition Earth!

In science, we started a gardening unit to finish out the school year. On Monday we kicked off the study by making "dirt pudding" and showing the layers of the soil.

(Kind of hard to see but we had graham crackers, golden Oreos, pudding, Oreos, chocolate chips and gummy worms.)

We also started our seeds for our garden this year. We seeded out carrots, onions, tomatoes, bell peppers, okra, sweet corn, watermelon, strawberries, cantaloupe, black-eyed peas, and squash. I still need to seed out the cucumbers, lettuce, and a few other things but we ran out of trays!

The kids loved being involved in this. They each had their own tray and chose what to put in it. We used craft sticks are markers to remember what we planted.

We did a few soil tests on the soil in our garden plot. We added vinegar to one soil sample and baking soda and water to another. The soil didn't react to either one, which means our soil probably has a neutral pH balance of 7. That's great news!

with vinegar

with baking soda

We are doing an earthworm test later today.

Zeke had a "Brown Bear, Brown Bear" theme this week for Tot School. He played in some rainbow colored rice. We hid laminated cards with the animals from the book in the rice. He found the pictures and put them with their match. We do two cards at a time, and he does great!

He also painted the animals from the book the correct colors. We are laminating them and making his own book.

He loves painting!

We did a lot of playing outside, cleaning inside, and watching TV. I ordered our curriculum for next year - Volume 1 of KONOS - and I've been looking through it. It's tough being ordered to stay home. We live in Louisiana, which has the fasted spread of COVID-19 in the world. That's sort of scary, but we do live very rural which I'm hoping will help us not to catch it. It's been nice having the big kids home from public school - they help with Zeke a LOT.

Random shots from the week:

Zeke loves this hammock and he loves being outside.

Mercie started a cross-stitch of our cat.

I don't like this picture of me (it's not flattering at all!) but I do like how one of the kids captured Zeke and I talking. So sweet! 

How was your week?

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Home School in the Woods: Artist Activity Pak

Disclaimer: I received a FREE copy of this product through the HOMESCHOOL REVIEW CREW in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way.

My 12 year old daughter, Mercie, loves all things art! She loves to draw and doodle, paint on canvases and work with clay. When I had the chance to review the Artist Activity Pak from Home School in the Woods, I was excited! I knew Mercie would love to learn about artists and different art movements in history.

The Artist Activity Pak is one of the Hands-On History Paks available from Home School in the Woods for grades 3-8. The Hands-On History Paks provide everything you need to make a lapbook - a file folder filled with mini books and foldables containing information. The Artist Activity Pak was provided to me as a digital download, but you can also purchase a CD. The digital download is $18.95 and the physical CD is $19.95.

The first thing I did upon receiving the download was print everything out! Home School in the Woods makes this super easy by providing the download as a ZIP file. Each item is a separate file so everything downloads extremely fast and it's easy to do in chunks if you prefer. I printed out each item and stapled each section together with the directions on top. This made it easy for Mercie to do this almost entirely by herself.

Here is what is included with the Artist Activity Pak:

• Paint Box vocabulary mini book
• Art Medium mini book
• Art Movements mini book
• Paint Like the Masters
• Artist Exhibitions for 33 artists (mini books)
• Art Sketchbook
• Art Gallery Game

The Paint Box vocabulary is a foldable book that contains artist vocabulary words, like tertiary colors. The Art Medium book is a flip book in which Mercie had to put certain art mediums, like pastels and charcoal into different categories, like painting and drawing. The Art Movements was also a foldable that described each of the art movements to be matched with their time period in history.

Paint Like the Masters has ten projects for your child to complete which mimic the "masters" of art. Mercie painted while lying on her back to mimic Michelangelo painting the Sistine chapel.

She used a wooden skewer to paint with dots like Georges Seurat's pointillism.

She painted a lighthouse on a cliff in monochrome like Sesshu Toyo.

She used chalks to make a portrait in the style of Peter Paul Rubens.

She painted a portrait in the style of Picasso.

The Artist Exhibition gave Mercie a chance to do a small amount of research on 33 famous artists, from Picasso to Beatrix Potter. She had to learn the country of their birth, their art techniques, and several of their famous artworks. The directions recommend printing these on colored paper to color code each art movement, but I didn't have colored paper. I had Mercie pick a color for each movement and color the "frame" of the mini-book to color code. It worked just as well!

The Art Sketchbook is a printable journal for your child to sketch her observations in. There is a quote from a famous artist on each page.

The Art Gallery Game is a file folder game that will help your child learn about art history! You will print out 60 cards that have a work of art on one side, and the artist's name, artwork's name, date, and medium used. The goal is to make it all the way around the board by answering questions about the artwork. We played it this way: for each correct answer about the artwork, you could move ahead one space. So if we got the artist and time period correct, we could move two spaces. If we got the medium used correct, we would only get one space. This gave us the potential to move up four spaces per turn. This is a really fun way to get to know 60 famous pieces of art and their artist.

I had Mercie complete all of the components to the Artist's Activity Pak during her independent work time. She spent about 20-30 minutes a day working on the Art-Pak. She really enjoyed doing this! Her favorite part was the Paint Like the Masters. She enjoyed learning about the different techniques and trying to imitate them. She also enjoyed researching the different artists and doing the Art Exhibition mini-books. I really liked the fact that she could do most of this on her own. It's hard to get to all of the extras we want to sometimes, like artist study or composer study. This is a great way to fit some of this in!

We were both very impressed with this Artist Activity Pak! The only negative things I can think of are that it took quite a bit of ink and time to print the Art Gallery Game, but it is worth it to me because I believe the game is really helping us to learn about some important masterpieces. Also, you will need pastels, chalks, and possibly black ink to complete the Paint Like the Masters. If you don't have those you will need to buy them. I spent over $30 in art supplies.

Here are some pictures of her completed lapbook:

Home School in the Woods has many different Hands-On History Paks. They even have one on US Elections, which we completed back in 2016. You can read our review of it here. This is very timely as it's an election year! I'm considering having all three of my home-schooled kids complete this so they can learn about the different parts of our government and how elections work. They already have many questions about it as they've watched some of the Democratic debates and news coverage.

Amy also has a blog called "Words From the Woods" that contains really helpful articles, like explaining the difference in history studies and a la carte history projects.

Click below to read more reviews on some of the different products Home School in the Woods has to offer.